Plenty of publishers use the Gamescom event every year to make announcements regarding their games, and this year is no exception. EA has taken the opportunity to tell fans of its Command and Conquer series that a selection of story-based missions will be available for download next year.

This Command and Conquer is however very different from the versions in the past, and has been designed from the ground-up as a free to play ‘service’. In this way gamers who jump in without paying will have the chance to try out some basic online battles, but the core of the game will be delivered via DLC, hence these new story missions.

“When we talk about the new Command & Conquer being a service, we’re really inviting the community to help drive the design process and the evolution of the game,” said Jon Van Caneghem, Vice President and General Manager, EA. “Since our announcement, the number one thing fans have asked for is new story content, and we listened. We are excited to be delivering compelling, high quality Campaign Missions that will roll out to the service in 2014.”

The first Campaign Missions will follow the Asia-Pacific Alliance (APA), as they attempt to stabilize a world that once again teeters on the brink of war. Having sat comfortably as the world’s foremost geopolitical power for nearly a decade, the APA finds itself challenged on all fronts. The upstart European Union (EU), a high-tech, single-state entity with an increasingly expansionist agenda continues to flex her muscles, while a series of increasingly bloody uprisings have torn key APA and EU satellite nations asunder. Rumors point to a newly reconstituted Global Liberation Army (GLA) as the instigator, but witnesses have described technology far beyond the reach of any normal terrorist organization. Concerned, the APA dispatches an elite force to infiltrate the latest, most volatile rebellion, one targeting an EU backed dictator. Their mission – learn the truth about the GLA, undermine the EU and restore peace to the globe.

If you want to get involved with Command and Conquer early, then sign up for the beta at www.commandandconquer.com, let us know if any of you guys are already onboard with it.